Company

AJ Maio began his Ballet training with Festival Ballet Providence School. In the Spring of 2022, he graduated from the University of Utah with a B.F.A. in Ballet and a B.A. in Russian. While there, he performed lead roles from Le Corsaire, Carmen, Raymonda, Don Quixote, Giselle, La Vivandiere, Paquita and, La Fille Mal Gardée. AJ Joined Festival Ballet Providence in 2022 and has performed roles such as The Nutcracker and Trepak in Yury Yanowsky’s The Nutcracker, and Blue Bird in Sleeping Beauty. This is AJ’s second season with Ballet RI.

Audrey Lukacz of Portsmouth NH, began her pre-professional training at Portsmouth School of Ballet under the direction and training of Kristen Samson and Susan Endrizzi. She attended summer programs at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Paul Taylor American Modern Dance intensive, and Ballet RI.

Audrey graduated from Butler University’s Dance Department with Honors with a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy in the Fall of 2019. Following graduation, Audrey joined Ballet RI during their 2020 season. During her time with Festival, Audrey has performed both corps and principal roles; including, Lead Spanish in The Nutcracker, Pas de Quatre, Paquita, new and original works by Yury Yanowsky, Paulo Arrais and Lia Cirio.

Alex Lantz was born in Rockford Illinois and started dancing with the Rockford Dance Company when he was seven. He then moved to Canada and trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and subsequently joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company in 2010. Lantz then came to Festival Ballet Providence in 2012.  

He has performed works by Mihailo Djuric, Victor Plotnikov, George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylián, Ilya Kozadayev, Dominic Walsh, Mauricio Wainrot, Mark Gotten, Yuri Yanowsky, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Trey McIntyre, Chanel DaSilva, and Helen Pickett. 

This will be his Eleventh season with the Company. 

Born in Houston, TX, Tara began dancing at the age of 3 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and continued training at the Feijoo Ballet School. Tara has performed in various productions, including Dracula, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, many mixed repertoires, and 15 seasons of The Nutcracker with the Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre.

Tara has performed roles ranging from The Sugarplum Fairy, Snow Queen (The Nutcracker), Kitri (Don Quixote), Effie (La Sylphide), Anastasia (Cinderella), to The Canary Fairy (The Sleeping Beauty). In 2015, Tara was honored to be the recipient of the coveted Lynette Mason Gregg scholarship. She has had the privilege to receive training from schools, such as Ellison Ballet in NYC, the School of American Ballet in NYC, Tulsa Ballet, The Harid Conservatory and Feijóo Ballet School. She has competed in the Youth American Grand Prix and placed first in Classical and 2nd in Contemporary, as well as placing 1st with a Pas de Deux. Tara has also received the Grand Prix Award in the Dance open America competition for classical variations and works by Yury Yanowsky and Alexis Zanety. Tara is honored to have trained under Lorna Feijóo, Nelson Madrigal, Lorena Feijóo, Natalie Zundel, Laura Massague, Ayman Harper, Dominic Walsh, Rolando Sarabia, Yusha Sorzano, Yury Yanowsky, Luis Fuente, Alexis Zanety, Heather Steele and Caitlin Cannon Fagan. She is grateful for the endless support of her loving family and teachers. Tara will forever be inspired by Ms. Lynette.

Raised in Hattiesburg MS, Clay started training at the age of 12 at On Your Toes Dance Studio doing jazz and contemporary whilst also training at South Mississippi Ballet Theatre. At the age of sixteen, Clay joined the Houston Ballet Academy where he stayed for two years training under Claudio Munoz and Andrew Murphy while performing numerous works for the company and the school.

In 2015, Clay joined the Professional Division program at Pacific Northwest Ballet. In 2016, Clay joined the Boston Ballet’s Second Company where he performed works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe and Jill Johnson. From 2017-2022 Clay danced with the Los Angeles Ballet where he appeared in numerous classical and contemporary works by Alejandro Cerrudo, Azure Barton, and Marius Petipa.

Corinne Mulcahy began studying dance at the age of 6 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Corinne then attended Arts Academy Charter Middle School and Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. She has attended various summer intensive programs such as Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Paris Opera Ballet. In 2016, she began training with The School of Pennsylvania Ballet as a Trainee before joining the second company of Philadelphia Ballet for the 20/21 and 21/22 seasons.

As a trainee, she danced as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. In the second company, Corinne performed as Snow White in Samantha Dunster’s adaptation of Snow White. During her time at Philadelphia Ballet, Corinne performed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Stars and Stripes, and Symphony in C. She has also danced corps roles in Angel Corella’s La Bayadere, Swan Lake, and Kenneth Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet.

Heather Nichols began her training at West End Academy of Dance in Richmond, Virginia. In 2009, Ms. Nichols joined the Richmond Ballet as a trainee. From 2011-2015, Ms. Nichols attended Butler University and received her Bachelor of Science in Dance Pedagogy and Pre-Physical Therapy. After graduating in 2015, she accepted a contract with Ballet San Antonio, where she spent four years. In 2019, Ms. Nichols joined Kansas City Ballet as a company member.

Throughout her career with Ballet San Antonio and Kansas City Ballet she has danced leading and featured roles in works by Peter Anastos, Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Devon Carney, Yosvanni Cortellan, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Edwaard Liang, Parish Maynard, Emily Mistretta, Irene Rodriguez, Willy Shives, Price Suddarth, Ben Stevenson, Septime Weber, Bruce Wells, Haley and Easton Wells. She created her first choreographic work Meraki on the Kansas City Ballet in March, 2022. This summer Heather participated in her first season with National Choreographers Initiative where she worked with Emily Adams and Jennifer Hart.

Born in Morelia, Mexico, Ocaranza began his Ballet training at Centro Pro-Ballet de Michoacán. At age 18 he was personally selected by Edward Villella to join the Miami City Ballet School where he graduated after three years working and touring with the company. Ocaranza has performed several Ballets from Choreographers such as George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Keneth Mcillan, Rudolph Nureyev, John Cranko, Uwe Scholz, Marco Goecke, Paul Taylor, Anthony Tudor, Will Tucket, Ninette De Valois, Val Caniparoli, Michael Pink and others.

He has been awarded scholarships to train with Boston Ballet and Tulsa Ballet. In 2014 he was part of The Carreño Festival under the direction of Jose Manuel Carreño from The American ballet theater. In 2015 he and his partner were “top Twelve” in the Youth American Grand Prix Finals. As a dancer with The Sarasota Ballet, he toured to The New York City Center to Perform in the Fall For Dance Festival of 2016 dancing alongside Alina Cojacaru and Friedman Voguel . In 2017 he joined the Milwaukee Ballet under the direction of Michael Pink. Later in 2021 Ocaranza was Part of Theater Im Pfalzbau Dance festival in Germany as a member of Compañía Nacional de Danza.

Rachel Schultz began her ballet training at the age of 8 in Crystal Lake, IL, and continued her training at various ballet schools in the midwest. She attended summer programs at Houston Ballet, Washington Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet New York. In 2020 she graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Ballet & Arts Management. During her time at IU Rachel worked closely with; Kyra Nichols, Micheal Vernon, Carla Korbes, Sarah Wroth, Christian Claessens and Sasha Janes.

After graduation Rachel joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s Graduate Program Under the direction of Susan Jaffe. Some of her favorite roles to perform have been; the principal in Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and the demi soloist role in Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance). Rachel is the recipient of a grant from the NSAL Competition Bloomington Chapter, 2nd place in the senior classical division at the YAGP Regionals, and the premier young artist scholarship to attend IU.

Marissa Parmenter took over as Director of Dance Education of Ballet RI in 2020, after a dance career brought her around the world, granting her the opportunity to perform with a variety of professional companies and collaborate with leading choreographers in a wide array of dance styles. During her seven years with Festival Ballet Providence (2002-2006, 2014-2017), Ms. Parmenter performed many notable principal and soloist roles both in classical and contemporary ballets.

Beyond her work in Providence, Ms. Parmenter has also danced as a full-time artist and guest performer with numerous companies including Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, BalletMet Columbus, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, and Boston Ballet. Ms. Parmenter has had the honor of dancing in new creations by renowned choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, James Kudelka, Mauro Bigonzetti, Edwaard Liang, Dominic Walsh, and Viktor Plotnikov, in addition to performing iconic works by seminal choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Amy Seiwert, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. In 2008, she was selected to perform at the prestigious festival Les Étés de la Danse in Paris and subsequently appeared in Quelques Pas a Paris, a documentary about the festival directed by Ezra Belotte-Cousineau.

Ms. Parmenter is also an accomplished choreographer whose original work has been performed at Ballet RI, Wheaton College, and Hollins University. She has been highlighted by featured articles in Pointe and Dance Magazine and has received both the Caroline Newhouse and Sono Onsato awards for artists in higher education.

Ms. Parmenter trained at Boston Ballet, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, and London Studio Centre under Margaret Barbieri. She earned her M.F.A. from Hollins University in 2014 in association with the American Dance Festival, Frankfurt Conservatory of Performing Arts, and the Forsythe Company.

From 2014-2018, Ms. Parmenter directed Festival Ballet School’s Summer Dance Intensive and furthered the professional company’s growth as Developmental Director from 2015-2020. In addition to leading the faculty and curriculum at Festival Ballet Providence School, she is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College and serves on the Dean’s Faculty Advisory Committee for curriculum development.